When to stop feeding baby food with baby food?

Parents are always looking for the best for our children. One of the main concerns is feeding the baby. It is even one of the most frequent doubts in consultations with the pediatrician.

The first food of the baby up to 6 months should be exclusive breastfeeding. Or, if not, a substitute prescribed by the doctor. After these first months, complementary feeding is started.

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Up to what age should the baby stop taking baby food?

Baby food is an option to start complementary feeding to the baby. The main food until the first year of age is still milk, it is from it that the baby obtains the necessary nutrients to continue developing.

However, some parents make the mistake of advancing feeding with baby food before 6 months, and even suspending or reduce milk intakes to replace them with food, due to the concern that the child will not receive enough nutrients. This is necessary?

Faced with this frequent doubt, we explain what the baby's feeding consists of during the first 2 to 3 years of life. In this stage the main foods of the baby are the

breastmilk, complementary food and drinks. We explain each one to solve the question of when to stop feeding baby food with baby food?

Up to 6 months: breast milk

As already mentioned, the main food up to 6 months is breast milk. WHO has made a recommendation that babies be exclusively breastfed whenever possible and, if for various situations this is not possible, the formula supplied must be indicated by a doctor.

Breast milk provides the necessary nutrients for the baby until his first year. In the case of an iron deficiency, the doctor may prescribe a supplement, but it should not be taken through vegetables or other over-the-counter supplements.

It is not even necessary to give the baby water in these first months. It must be remembered that it is very important not to advance complementary feeding, as the baby's digestive system is not yet ready to receive other types of food.

Breast milk changes its composition throughout the first months of the baby's life. During the 3 months of initiation, it contains much more fat and the nutrients necessary for the immediate survival of the child.

However, after 3 and up to 6 months, its composition changes to provide what is necessary for the child to strengthen your digestive system, and from 6 months on, it remains nutritious above any other type of milk.

For these reasons breast milk should not be substituted, nor should complementary feeding be advancedSince each milk intake provides enough nutrients that no vegetables or meat offer.

From 6 months on: complementary food and drinks

From 6 months, the baby can receive complementary feeding. The objective of this stage is to accustom the baby's body to a new diet, but it must be gradual and in accordance with her age and progress.

Some pediatricians even recommend that this complementary feeding be started when the baby has the ability to sitting on his own, meaning that he can move from a lying position to a sitting position without any help from a adult.

It is at this stage that baby food is provided. Assorted foods are introduced in the form of baby food or porridge to facilitate the child's intake, since it does not have teeth to grind.

These baby food should be gradually varied between different foods, separately. It is recommended to start with some vegetables such as chayote, pumpkin, carrot, broccoli, and fruits such as banana, pear and Apple.

They are offered separately to facilitate the detection of possible allergies. Once it has been verified that there are none, the baby food or baby food can be prepared by combining foods, including chicken or lean meat. In addition, at this stage water can already be offered.

Another alternative to baby food is the diet known as BLW, Baby Led Weaning. The method suggests offering the food in sticks and cooked enough that it can be crushed with a little pressure and that the baby eats it directly, instead of the traditional baby food.

On the other hand, regarding drinks, the recommendation is that, in addition to breast milk, we can offer water only after 6 months of age. You can make fruit water without sugar, but juices should be avoided due to the large amount of sugar and little fiber they offer.

Then... When to stop feeding baby food with baby food?

The best thing is that around the age of 2 the child has been integrated into the usual family diet. That is, that she can eat more or less the same as the rest and that she does it herself or at least begins to do it almost all the time.

So around the first year is a good time to put down baby food.. As soon as the first teeth come in, he can start eating crushed foods that contain small pieces. Gradually, it can be crushed less and less until it reaches the cooked food.

In the case of the BLW, the objective is that baby food is never offered. It doesn't matter that they don't have teeth, the jaw is strong enough to chew cooked food. So by the time the teeth come out, the child is able to eat more things.

That is important: do not offer food such as nuts or grapes. This is due to the shape and hardness of these foods, which can easily go down the windpipe and obstruct breathing, so it is better to wait until after 5 years.

Baby food should only be offered for a few months, that is, it should not extend beyond one year of age. Otherwise, the digestive system may lose strength and have difficulty adjusting to semi-solid foods.

The conclusion is that baby food should not be offered before 6 months of age and decrease in frequency around 9 and up to 12 months, remembering that at this stage breastfeeding or artificial feeding continues to be the main supply of nutrients.

Bibliographic references

• World Health Organization. (s / f). "Breastfeeding". http://www.who.int/es.
• World Health Organization (2002). Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding.
• Rodríguez Bonito, Rogelio (2012). Neonatology Manual.